Hotel Havana to open Ocho lounge May 18

Ocho, a new lounge soon to open at Hotel Havana, will offer drinks and food. COURTESY PHOTO

Early in 2010, when Austin hotelier Liz Lambert purchased Hotel Havana, 1015 Navarro St., we all wondered what would happen to Club Cohiba, a hotel bar cherished by locals. Although the changes were not too drastic, it feels like locals are not drinking there as frequently as they did.

Soon, there will be Ocho, a new lounge in the hotel’s conservatory slated to open May 18. Now that Cool Café has vacated the premises, Lambert’s people have been busy bees transforming the riverside space into a lounge offering food as well as an expanded drink menu. For the sake of record, the basement bar and the conservatory will join to become Ocho. For now, the building Cool Café was operating from will only be used for its kitchen.

Unlike Club Cohiba, I wasn’t emotionally attached to Cool Café, so I’m looking forward to the completed new look. I tottered over yesterday to take a peak. A bar has been placed inside the sunroom and will be accompanied by a combination of couches and lounge seating, and restaurant-style tables. As for the outdoor bar at the end of the walkway, it’s been removed for more seating.

For Ocho, the drink menu has been revamped and expanded to include more specialty cocktails as well as wine selection. Ocho will be open 7-11 a.m. for breakfast, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. for lunch and an abbreviated late-night menu will be available until 2 a.m. The menu will be available to Ocho patrons as well as hotel guests.

But back to that menu. It’s pricey. Restauranteur Lou Lambert and chef Larry McGuire have collaborated on the menu. Lunch and dinner appetizers start at $8 and include dishes Traditional Pozole Rojo, Huitlacoche Quesadillas and Havana Papas Bravas. There are three kinds of tortas ($10-$14) served with potato chips. The breakfast menu is extensive, and there are a handful of desserts to choose from. The late-night menu includes the aforementioned pozole and quesadillas as well as the Ocho Salsa Platter ($12) and the Shrimp & Crab Campechana ($16).